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Islington Tribune - by MARK BLUNDEN
Published: 1 June 2007

Moves to tackle gun crime

Spate of drug-fuelled shootings spurs police to take emergency action

POLICE have called an emergency meeting on Monday following a spate of shootings in Newington Green.
It follows a marked rise in drug-fuelled gun crime around Mildmay in recent months.
In late April there was a double shooting, which mark an escalation in a bloody turf war between rival street gangs.
The attack, in Hathersage Court, left two men with gunshot wounds.
At the same time, murder squad detectives continue to hunt the killer of Joseph ‘Tinker’ Armstrong who died after being stabbed at the Hathersage Court estate in 2006.
Two weeks ago, police shut down a rowdy crack den in leafy Ferntower Road.
On Monday, residents and traders are invited to voice their concerns and challenge the police on how they are tackling the problem.
The meeting will be held at the Mayville Community Centre, in Woodville Road, N16.
Brian Lawson, a community safety officer in Newington Green, said: “The meeting is being held because of the considerable escalation in gun crime in the area.
“Understandably, people are worried about their personal safety and their business.
“We want to make people feel safe and know that there is lots being done to fight gun crime.”
But some are wondering what good discussing the problem will do when tough action is needed on the streets.
A number of traders and residents have voiced their concerns about the spiralling violence.
Shopkeeper Simon Murphy said: “I see drugs deals happening there twenty or thirty times a day. I think there was one guy who was in jail but he got out and there were two guys trying to move in on his patch and that when the (latest) trouble started.
“They use underage guys to carry the drugs because they know they can’t go to prison.”
The landlord of the Nobody Inn, in Mildmay Park, said: “We have dodgy-looking guys come in all the time, but we just kick them out.”
In the past year the police have struggled to keep a lid on the escalating drug-fuelled violence around Newington Green.
But the head of the Mildmay Safer Neighbourhoods Team insists his officers are winning their fight against the dealers.
Sergeant Graham Cushway is planning increased CCTV for Hathersage Court and has stepped up patrols.
Following the April shootings, he hinted at “other work”, which could be undercover, to beat the gangs.

* The anti-gun meeting, hosted by the Mildmay Community Partnership, will take place on Monday June 4 at the Mayville Community Centre, N16, at 7.30pm. For further information, contact Trevor Mbatha on 020 7249 8286.

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